The San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD), has 48,289 students enrolled in the current school year. When the COVID-19 crisis came to San Antonio, SAISD worked quickly to expedite a 5-year plan to put chromebooks/laptops in the hands of each student across the district. And it's working. SAISD has engaged 94% of their students since the start of shelter-in-place. Willie Burroughs, SAISD's Chief Operations Officer and proud Dad of a student at Young Men's Leadership Academy, shares how this was done and why it's so critical to student success in San Antonio.

According to SA2020’s 2019 Community Impact Report, 81% of San Antonio homes have computer and internet access. In this episode of The Story Goes... we talk to Jordana Barton, the Senior Community Development Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Given her work championing computer and internet access for families, she's also known more affectionately as the "digital inclusion lady." Listen to Jordana share what the digital divide is exactly, how it affects all of us, and, as always, what people and organizations are doing about it in San Antonio.

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Each semester, Gina Amatangelo's undergraduate Civic Leadership Class at The University of Texas at San Antonio, practices the art of facilitation and elevating the voices of young people. After San Antonio's Stay Home Order, Gina and her students turned their skills from in-person conversations to online discussions. Find out what UTSA students Jacob Berhanu and Shelby Sanders have learned about San Antonio in these discussions and their own thoughts on leadership during COVID-19 and beyond. Gina Amatangelo was recently recognized as the 2019-20 Richard S. Howe Outstanding Teaching Award for Non-Tenured-Track Faculty by the University Excellence Awards. This award recognizes faculty who provide exemplary, signature experiences for undergraduate students.

From 53 calls a week to 5,300 calls a week, the City of San Antonio's Neighborhood Housing Services Department is at the center of a community that already sees 1 in 3 of its residents burdened by housing costs. Veronica Soto explains what the Department does, how it's responding to the COVID-19 Crisis, ideas for recovery, and how you can help.

As small business owners, nonprofit employees, taxpayers, students, retirees, and more, The CARES Act and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act affects San Antonians. Accountants, Chris Carmona and Derek Schriver of Schriver | Carmona, breakdown the legislation and share information based on the most common questions they are hearing from their clients.

Magaly Chocano, the owner of local web design firm Sweb Development, has always been a person on a mission. Weeks before San Antonio began sheltering-in-place, the downtown Sweb Office was destroyed in a fire. The Sweb team was overwhelmed by the community's support in the immediate aftermath of the fire, allowing them to be up and running again within days. Then the second crisis hit home. Hear how Magaly and her team are raising thousands of dollars, bringing the community together, and supporting local businesses through COVID-19. 

More info: www.inthistogethersa.com

Meals on Wheels San Antonio is a lifeline for 5,000 Bexar County seniors each year. After COVID-19 hit, their goal continues to be to deliver meals to our clients, a mostly elderly, high-risk population, and check on their safety during this time. Find out what they're doing to up their delivery, maintain the safety of their clients and those making the deliveries, and how you can help. 

Resources: https://www.mowsatx.org 

Our schools have been shuttered as we confront the spread of COVID-19, but learning carries on. CASA@CAST is CAST's home for Student Voice and for connecting with the San Antonio community. Students are sharing observations, creative expressions, and ideas as they experience this global pandemic. Liam, a sophomore at CAST Tech, gave a book review of Diary of A Whimpy Kid-Roderick Rules. See other student videos on CAST's YouTube channel (link in resources). Since educational tools and resources are part of today's podcast, we also focus on KLRN's resources for teachers and parents. Katrina Kehoe, VP of Communications at KLRN, tells us how KLRN is helping parents and teachers deliver learning opportunities to students of all ages, with and without internet access.

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Barbara Taylor, M.D., M.S. Epidemiology is uniquely qualified to answer questions during a global health pandemic. She is, among other things, an Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases at UT Health-San Antonio. In this episode of The Story Goes, Dr. Taylor helps us understand local efforts during COVID-19 and even answers questions from the community at large.

Home to the largest MLK march in the country, the Spurs, St. Philip’s College, Hays Street Bridge, 47 parks, 3 libraries, and more, District 2 holds so much of San Antonio’s rich history and culture. San Antonio for Growth on the Eastside (SAGE) is a nonprofit organization that works to maintain and preserve this history and culture, while championing investments that improve the quality of life for families, neighborhoods, and businesses on the Eastside. In this episode of The Story Goes, Tuesdaé Knight shares the historical significance of the Eastside and her own leadership path to leading SAGE.

RESOURCES: www.sagesa.org